KABUL (Pajhwok): Islamabad last week said it would continue interacting with Kabul to address ‘common concerns’ and Uzbekistan expressed its desire to establish positive relations with Afghanistan.
Also last week, a US lawmaker accused the Islamic Emirate of selling weapons the US military left behind while leaving the country to US adversaries, a claim rejected by Islamic Emirate spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid as untrue.
Last week’s major events
- Pakistan: Interaction with Afghanistan to continue
- Uzbekistan wants positive bilateral relations with Afghanistan
- US lawmaker: Islamic Emirate sold US-abandoned weapons
- Mujahid: Sale of American weapons untrue
- EU donates medical supplies, Netherlands provides 5.7m euros
Casualties
Last week, five people were killed and four others were injured in separate incidents of violence across the country.
According to reports, two children were killed and four others were injured when unexploded ordnances went off in Kapisa and Nangarhar provinces.
A 13-year-old girl’s body was found in Jawzjan and a tribal leader shot his son dead in Baghlan.
A notorious robber was killed in a shootout in Kabul city.
Note: These figures are based on reports reaching Pajhwok Afghan News. Some incidents may have gone unreported or sources provided incorrect information.
In the previous week, 16 people were killed and 10 others were injured in various incidents across the country.
Before the regime change in August 2021, hundreds of civilians, insurgents and security forces would get killed and wounded every week.
Interaction with Afghanistan
Last week, Islamabad urged Kabul to honor its promise that its soil will not be used for terrorism against Pakistan.
The Afghan caretaker government, on the other hand, has repeatedly said it would not allow the use of Afghan soil against anyone.
Foreign Office spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said on Thursday that Pakistan was committed to engage with Afghanistan on all aspects of cooperation and concern, including issues relating to terror threats.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Army chief expressed serious concerns over “the safe havens and liberty of action available” to TTP in Afghanistan.
But the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has repeatedly said it will not allow the use of Afghan soil against anyone.
On Friday, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen. Syed Asim Munir visited the Quetta Garrison, where he was briefed on recent terrorist attacks in Zhob and Sui.
“The Armed Forces of Pakistan have serious concerns on the safe havens and liberty of action available to Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan in Afghanistan,” the military’s media wing said.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement comes two days after 12 soldiers lost their lives in militant attacks in Zhob and Sui.
“It is expected the interim Afghan government would not allow the use of its soil to perpetrate terror against any country, in the real sense and in line with its commitments made in the Doha Agreement,” it said.
Sohail Shaheen, the caretaker government’s political office head in Doha, exchanged views with British charge d’affaires Robert C Dickson on the prevailing situation in Afghanistan.
Dickson said Doha served as an important center of interaction with Afghanistan.
Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met with Norwegian Chargé d’Affaires to Afghanistan Paul Bakken.
Muttaqi said despite many achievements, the international community was yet to come forward for proper interaction with Afghanistan.
Conversely, he said, the world was mounting pressure on the Islamic Emirate, harming the environment of trust building.
Uzbekistan’s special representative for Afghanistan Ismatulla Ergashov held a meeting Balkh governor Mohammad Yusuf Wafa, saying his country desired positive bilateral relations with Afghanistan.
Mujahid: US weapons sale untrue
US House of Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul had accused the Islamic Emirate of selling weapons and equipment the US forces left behind in Afghanistan to Washington’s adversaries like Iran and the Palestinians against Israel.
However, Mujahid said the “allegations” were untrue and they had stored all weapons and equipment left behind by the foreign forces at the country’s warehouses.
He said such propaganda was being carried out by those who could not tolerate the ongoing stability in Afghanistan.
Girls’ education
Nobel prize winner Malala Yousafzai has said she never expected “complete reversal” of education and rights for women in Afghanistan under the new rulers.
“Ten years ago, millions of Afghan girls were going to school,” she told an audience at the United Nations House in Abuja, Nigeria.
“One in three young women were enrolled in university. And now? Afghanistan is the only country in the world to ban girls and women from seeking education.”
“Even as a teenager, I understood that progress could be slow – but I never expected to witness a complete reversal, an entire country of girls locked out of school, trapped in their homes and losing hope.”
Referring to her speech, Thomas West, the US special representative for Afghanistan, said the women and girls in Afghanistan deserve full access to education to realise their potential.
“On #MalalaDay, we recognise advocacy for education rights. Afghan women and girls are a tremendous asset to the future of Afghanistan and deserve full access to education to realise their potential,” he said in a tweet.
The Islamic Emirate has suspended girls’ higher and university education, but has said the decision is not permanent and efforts are underway to find a solution.
Continuity of aid
The European Union donated 100 tons of medical supplies and medicines to Afghanistan and the Netherlands contributed more than 5.7 million euros to help poor families in remote areas of Afghanistan.
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